There's More Than One Way to Make a Deal
by Paige M. Carter
Summary: Sam finds a way to save Dean and John, but at what price? Spoilers for Season 1 and 2 up to 'In My Time of Dying' AU from there.


Feedback: No flames, flying objects or flaming flying objects please

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I'm just playing with them, don't sue me

Author's Note II: This was written for captclooless for the oh!sam fic challenge. I hope it is something to close to what you had in mind and I apologize again for it being so late. The original prompt is at the end of the story.

Sam stood in the hospital hallway, staring at the scrap of paper that held the list of items his father needed from Bobby, he knew deep in his gut that this stuff wasn't for protection. Acacia alone told him that, acacia was used to draw something in, not repel it. He remembered the spell Meg used for the Daevas called for acacia. His father wasn't trying to protect them from The Demon or any other demons, he was trying to draw them in. For a moment, he considered walking back into his father's room and letting him have it, but he thought better of it.

He couldn't let his father do whatever it was he was planning. He knew that if something happened to their dad and Dean found out, his brother would never forgive himself. No, he couldn't allow that to happen, but he couldn't let Dean die either.

Suddenly an idea popped into his head, it was a long shot, but if anyone could help him, it would be her.

He hurried out of the hospital and around the corner before pulling out his cellphone, "Cassie? It's Sam, I'm calling that favor you owe me."

John sat next to Dean's bed, fuming. He and Sam were going to have it out whenever he got back, hospital or no hospital. He'd sent Sam to get the supplies he needed to summon a demon from Bobby hours ago and he wasn't back yet. He'd called Bobby only to be told that the other man hadn't seen Sam since they'd towed the Impala back to the salvage yard. When John had explained what he'd sent Sam to him for, Bobby had exploded and had been reaming him out for being an idjit when John hung up on him.

He stared at the body of his eldest son and swore again that he'd find a way to save him when suddenly, Dean's body arched up and his eyes flew open as he clawed at the breathing tube. Alarms screamed and the room filled with doctors and nurses. John was shoved out of the room and could only watch as the professionals surrounded his son and took him off the breathing tube.

After a few minutes, the doctor came out, a confused look on his face.

"Doctor, how's my son?"

The doctor sighed, "Mister McGuillicutty, I can't explain it, your son has made a complete recovery. We'll have to run some more tests, but he should be ready to go home by tomorrow, day after at the latest."

John gaped at him, "A complete recovery? You were telling me yesterday to take him off of life support."

The doctor shook his head, "I can't explain it, but he's okay."

After John was sure that Dean was alone, he went back inside. Dean was sitting up in bed, a bewildered look on his face.

"Dad? What's going on?"

John shrugged, "I don't know. The doctor says that you're going to be fine, you made a complete recovery."

Dean's eyes narrowed, "Dad, what did you do?" Then his eyes widened, "Where's Sam?"

John sighed, "I don't know. I sent him out to get some...supplies and I haven't seen him since."

Before Dean could say anything else, there was a commotion outside.

"We got an assault victim! Male, early twenties! Injuries to the lower extremities!"

John poked his head outside to see the doctors swarming around a stretcher.

"What the hell happened?" The head doctor said to the EMT.

The EMT shrugged, "He just seemed to appear outside the door."

John finally got close enough to see the victim and his heart stopped when he saw Sam's bruised face, "That's my son!"

The doctor turned to him in astonishment, "The son that was in here earlier?" At John's nod, the doctor shook his head, "You people have no luck at all, do you?" Before John could answer, Sam was rushed into the examining room.

He stood there watching as the doctors and nurses worked on his youngest. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew Sam had have made a deal for whatever happened to have happened.

As he was heading back for Dean's room, one of the EMTs grabbed him, "You said you were the kid's father?" At John's nod, he shoved a backpack into his hands."Here, this was found on him."

John took the backpack and went back into Dean's room.

Dean's eyes were wide, "Dad, what the hell is going on?"

John shook his head, "Sam was attacked by someone,"

Dean's eyes were horrified, "Is he okay?"

John shook his head, "I don't know, they just brought him in." He looked at the bag in his hands before handing it to Dean.

Dean frowned, "Why're you giving me this?"

"I want you to look through it for anything suspicious. Herbs, spells, anything."

Dean nodded with understanding, "You think Sam made a deal with something."

John shrugged, "I don't know what to think, but it's strange that you make a complete recovery and he suddenly shows up beat all to hell." He turned and walked back to where he knew they were working on Sam.

******A Few Hours Later******

John looked up as the doctor came out, "How's my son?"

The doctor sighed and scratched his head, "Your son's gonna be fine but,"

John's eyes narrowed, "But?"

The doctor dropped his head, "It's strange Mister McGuillicutty, the bones in his leg have been completely shattered. We've done the best we could and were able to save his leg, but he'll never have full use of that leg again."

John frowned, "How is that possible?"

The doctor shook his head, "I don't know. It looks like someone hit his leg with great force and left him there. Normally we'd be able tell what did it by looking at the bruises, but all the damage is on the inside, there's no sign of what did the damage."

John managed to stay calm until he got into the men's bathroom, "Dammit Sam!" Why couldn't his youngest do what he was told for once? If Sam had just gotten the supplies from Bobby like he was supposed to, this wouldn't have happened. He slumped against the wall with a sigh, he wasn't sure what they were gonna do now. Whatever Sam had done, it had healed Dean, so he couldn't really complain and it was possible that Sam's injury would short-circuit The Demon's plans for him, but that also mean his own plans were done.

He walked back to Dean's room, "Find anything?"

Dean shook his head, "Nothing. Whatever he did, he left the supplies there." He looked at his father, "How bad is it?"

John sighed, "The doctor said that the bones in his leg have been completely shattered. He'll never have full use of his right leg again."

Dean's eyes widened, "How the hell did that happen?"

John shook his head, "They don't know. He said that it looked like Sam's leg was shattered from the inside but there's no outward sign of trauma."

Dean's eyes widened, "What do we do now?"

John sighed, "We'll wait until Sam wakes up and go from there." Hopefully once Sam told them what he'd done, there'd be a way to undo it.

Sam opened his eyes with a groan, God he felt like hell. Everything hurt from his hair to his toenails. The worst pain was in his leg and in a flash, he remember calling Cassie and their plan to save Dean, the summoning spell, the deal and the agonizing pain in his leg.

As his eyes focused, he was amazed and pleased to see Dean awake and healthy sitting next to him.

"'Bout time you woke up, Sammy," Dean said with a forced smile."

Sam managed to smile, "Dean, I'm so glad you're okay."

For some reason, his words angered Dean because his brother exclaimed, "Dammit Sam, what the hell did you do?"

Sam tried to play dumb but Dean wasn't buying it, "Your right leg is completely shattered, Sam. The doctors are saying you'll never have full use of your leg again. Don't play dumb with me."

Sam glanced at his leg, saw that it was in traction before looking back at Dean, "I did what I had to, it's for the best."

"What you had to?" Dean's eyes were incredulous, "Sam, you're lucky to not lose your leg and you'll never be able to hunt again! How the hell is this 'for the best'?"

"Because you're alive and no one had to die," Sam said with a slightly mad gleam in his eye. "I saved you without anyone dying or Dad summoning The Demon."

Dean sighed and hung his head, he should've known that their encounter with the faith healer would still be bothering Sam. "Sam, what did you do? Dad and Bobby have been searching all over to find a way to fix this and they're coming up empty. They can even find reference to a demon who would do this kind of thing."

Sam shook his head, "You can't undo it and I didn't make a deal with a demon. I made a deal with Apollo."

Dean's eyes widened, "Apollo? As in the Greek God Apollo, God of the Sun?"

Sam nodded with a smile, "Technically, he's the God of Light, Helios is God of the Sun. He's also the God of Medicine, he helped you in exchange for a sacrifice."

Dean stared, "Sam...how would you even find something like that?"

Sam sighed, "When I was at Stanford, I hunted a witch that was castrating men in order to appease fertility gods for small vineyard owners in Napa. While I was there, I ran into a witch named Cassie who was basically investigating the same thing. We managed to stop the witch but we ran into some hunters who wanted to blame Cassie for what was going on. I saved her and she owed me and I called it in and she found the ritual."

"_Why have you summoned me," the beautiful god asked, staring at Sam with burning eyes._

_Sam gulped but forced himself to swallow his fear, "It's my brother. We were attacked by a demon and the doctors are saying he might not wake up."_

_Apollo stared at him, "Which demon?"_

_Sam bit his lip, "We don't know his name. We call him 'Yellow-Eyes'."_

_Apollo nodded, "I know the demon and I am sorry your family and so many others have suffered by his hand. I can heal your brother, but to heal damage of this extent requires a sacrifice."_

_Sam gulped, "What kind of sacrifice?" Cassie hadn't really mentioned a sacrifice, but even she had admitted that it had been so long since the Greek Gods had been summoned or worshipped, the text didn't say what would happen._

_Apollo smiled, "You are very fortunate, Samuel Winchester. I will help your brother and the sacrifice I will require will not only save your brother, but will halt the demon's plans for you and I will also give you a gift to aid your quest."_

_Now Sam was REALLY nervous. His first thought was that Apollo was going to kill him or incapacitate him somehow. He still needed to help his family._

_He forgot that gods could read minds because Apollo smiled, "Do not fear. I have no intentions of killing you or robbing you of your senses or asking sexual favors from you. Lay down and extend your right leg."_

_Sam gulped but knew that he had no choice. He laid back and extended his leg. Suddenly, it felt like his leg was exploding. He screamed in pain but Apollo ran a hand through his hair to calm him. _

"_I will now take you to a hospital so that you can be treated. You will receive my gift in your sleep"_

Dean stared at Sam as he finished his story with a mix of shock, anger and horror. "So you just let some ancient god shatter your leg and that's all you had to do? C'mon Sam, there's more of a catch than that."

Sam shook his head, "No. Apollo is the God of Truth, he cannot tell a lie. He was pleased that I took the time to actually do the summoning ritual. I could've had it worse."

Dean exploded, "Worse? Sam, you're never gonna walk right again! You'll have to use crutches or wear a brace, if you're lucky."

"But you're alive, Dean, and so is Dad. No one had to die or make a deal with a demon. I'd do it again."

Dean stood up, feeling like he was going to punch his brother in the face. "You need to get some rest, Sammy. I'll be back later."

He walked back to the waiting room and found his dad and Bobby sitting at the table and sighed, "You might as well put that stuff away, I talked to Sam and there's nothing we can do."

Both men looked up, "Sam's awake," John asked.

Dean nodded, "Yeah and he told me everything. It can't be undone."

John shook his head, "No, we just need to find out which demon did it."

"Sam didn't make a deal with a demon, Dad, he made a deal with a god."

John and Bobby's eyes widened, "A god? What god?"

Dean told them what Sam had told him and both of them sank back in their seats.

"Dammit Sam," John groaned, burying his face in his hands. He looked at Bobby, "Is there anything we can do?"

Bobby shook his head, "No. Sam's right, this can't be undone. I can't believe he was able to summon a god in the first place, let alone find one that was still powerful enough to pull something like that."

They discussed what to do and Bobby offered to let them stay with him until Sam was well enough to travel, but Dean could see that John wasn't going to be sticking around. With or without his sons, he was going after the demon.

A Month Later

Sam grunted with discomfort as the Impala stopped in front of Bobby's house. Even though the doctors were amazed at how well he was doing after having his entire leg shattered, his leg still hurt like hell, but that was probably never going to change, so there was no sense in complaining, especially given the alternative.

Dean looked at him, "You-"

Sam held up a hand, "Dude, if you ask me if I'm okay one more time, I'm gonna punch you. I'm as fine as I can be."

Dean bit back a reply, Sam was WAY too chipper for someone who'd had their leg shattered almost beyond repair by a god, it was actually aggravating. If Sam had been moping or depressed, he would've known what to do, but this cheerful, resigned-to-his-fate Sam creeped him out.

Sam, all throughout his recovery and the beginnings of his physical therapy, had shown a cheerfulness that even the hospital psychologist sent to see how he was coping found a little unnerving. He seldom complained about the pain or the long therapy sessions. Bobby and Dean had been suspicious but a visit and discussion with Missouri, as well as some tests of their own, assured them that Sam was fine, but the fact that Sam was willingly accepting the situation made them all uneasy.

Dean climbed out of the car and hurried around the other side of the Impala and grabbed Sam's crutches out of the trunk. They'd all tried to convince Sam that he should be in a wheelchair, but the youngest Winchester refused, insisting on using crutches, citing that wheelchair users had a higher risk of urinary tract infections and other problems due to being confined to a wheelchair.

As he climbed out of the car, Sam looked around and was shocked to see John's truck, "Dad's here?"

Dean nodded, "Yeah, he's gonna stick around for a few days." He didn't mention that Bobby had practically threatened John to get him to stay until Sam got out of the hospital. Of all of them, John seemed to be taking Sam's sacrifice the hardest. He seemed strangely angry that Sam had sacrificed himself to Apollo to save Dean. Ever since Sam had woken up and told them about his encounter with Apollo, John had refused to visit him. Sam didn't seem to notice or care, but it bothered Dean.

Bobby opened the door and came down the steps to help Dean get Sam up the stairs. "C'mon. I got a room all set up for you downstairs."

After accepting that Sam's injury was permanent, Bobby and Dean had decided that even if Sam was able to get even some use of his leg back, getting up and down the stairs would be a problem, so Bobby had cleared out a spare room and moved the beds out of the boys' room upstairs and into new spare room so Dean could be close by if Sam needed him.

They got Sam inside and set him up in the living room with the remote, beer, and his computer and a request for some research and translation that would keep him busy for hours while they finished refitting the house so Sam could get around easier.

Sam had been at his task for an hour when John came in and immediately, he knew there was going to be trouble. His father's body language was combative and there was a bottle of booze in his hand.

"Hi Dad." Despite Dean's thoughts to the contrary, Sam was well aware of the fact that their father hadn't been coming to see him. Apollo had given him another gift besides Dean's life and Sam knew why John hadn't come to see him and why he was so angry about Sam's deal with Apollo, though if his 'gift' was anything like the gifts Apollo had given people in the past, Sam knew he'd have a terrible time getting Dean or Bobby to believe him.

John didn't even acknowledge Sam's presence as he sat down and opened his bottle. They sat in silence for an hour though Sam kept an eye on him until suddenly, John threw the bottle across the room, narrowly missing Sam.

"Dad?" Sam said cautiously, he had a nasty feeling where this was going to go, but he hoped for the best.

"Why can't you do what you're told for once, Sammy?" John snarled. "All you had to do was get those supplies."

Sam focused on his father, "You were going to summon a demon and do God-only-knows."

"You ruined everything! We could've finished this if you'd just killed me. Then you went and made a deal with a god."

Sam's eyes narrowed, but he held his peace, there was no sense in revealing his god-given knowledge unless he had to because he honestly didn't want to believe that his father was capable of what Apollo had shown him.

"You've always ruined everything! It's your fault your mother is dead! It's your fault that we've had to chase this thing for over twenty years!"

It was on the tip of Sam's tongue to shoot back with the truth, but he could sense Dean and Bobby coming in and he knew that one of the truths he had to throw back at their dad would devastate Dean.

John seemed oblivious to the arrival of his oldest son and old friend for he strode over to where Sam was sitting up and grabbed him by the shirt.

"After we get the Demon, I don't want to see you again. Go back to Stanford, I don't care, but I never want to see you again. You leave Dean and I-"

"Dad, you say one more word, I'll shoot you," Dean said in that calm way that Sam knew meant he was two seconds away from doing someone serious damage. He glanced behind him and saw Dean had his prize gun in his hand and Bobby had his shotgun.

"Dean," John said, clearly hoping to get his devoted eldest child on his side.

Dean held up a hand, "Don't even try it, Dad, Bobby and I both heard the whole thing."

"Dean, you don't know what the Demon showed me. What's been going on."

"Go on and tell him, Dad," Sam said, using his crutches to get to his feet. "Tell him how your great plan this whole time was to use me as bait to draw the Demon out. You knew the whole time what was going on, Jess's death, my visions, everything. You knew that Dean would come get me from Stanford when you took off. You knew what was happening and you just sat back and watched."

The silence in the living room was deafening. Bobby and Dean were staring at him in horror. John looked furious and worried. Clearly, he hadn't expected his plan to be exposed.

"Dean, it's a lie," John said, seeing the look on his son's face. "He's one of the 'Special Children'. There's no telling what the Demon's getting him to do."

Dean looked at Sam, "Sammy, how do you know that's what's going on?"

Sam sighed, "Apollo. Remember how he said he'd give me a gift besides your life?" At Dean's nod, he sighed, "The gift was clarity. Apollo is the God of Truth and he gave me the gift of clarity to see what was really going on and part of it was seeing what Dad had been doing."

There was a long pause while Dean wavered, clearly torn between his father and brother. Finally, he leveled the gun at John, "I think you need to leave, Dad. And don't come back."

John looked stunned, "Dean, listen. I can explain."

"No, Dad," Dean said with a dark look, cocking the gun. "Get out. Bobby'll get your stuff."

John threw a murderous look at Sam but stormed out. Bobby went upstairs and quickly returned with John's duffle and the bag of research. He opened the door and threw John his bags.

Neither of the boys moved until they heard the sound of the truck leaving the yard.

"Sam, are you sure about this?" Dean said, clearly shaken by what had just happened. He'd just turned his back on his idol.

Sam nodded, "I saw it all. He's been following us the whole time. He knew all about what was going on, and he just sat back and watched. His 'plan' was to use me to lure the demon out and then kill him. After that, I'm not sure what he was going to do."

"What about Rosie," Dean asked, remembering the baby they'd saved.

"It was a set-up. Yellow-Eyes had no intention of actually feeding her his blood, there were still plenty of 'Special Children' out there. It was a trap to let us know he was on to us."

Dean sighed, and sat down on the coffee table. "So what do we do now?"

Sam shook his head, "I don't know. Apollo said that what he did to me would stop the Demon's plans for me, but I don't know what it means for the rest of the children." He knew he should tell Dean about the other things Apollo showed him, but he couldn't bear the thought of destroying Dean's memory of their mother

Dean buried his face in his hands, realizing that his father, their father, had been using them. He'd had suspicions, but had held to his belief in spite of the evidence to the contrary.

He looked at Sam who was looking back at him with sad eyes, he knew that the Demon and their dad wouldn't stop until this feud came to an end one way or another. He just hoped his father would be able to stop the Demon without destroying himself and their family, but deep down he knew it was too late.

He and Sam would go into semi-retirement, he accepted that. No more constant road trips and sleeping in motels every night. He'd hunt whenever the need arose, but for the most part, they were done hunting, Sam's leg would never heal enough for him to hunt safely and other than Bobby and their dad once-upon-a-time, there was no one Dean really trusted to watch his back enough to go on a hunt. The Winchester brother were done with hunting full-time. They were going to have the semi-normal Sam, and though he'd never admit it, Dean wanted. He hoped their dad would be able to stop the demon once and for all and find peace, but he and Sam were done and he felt a strange amount of relief at that.

The End

Prompt: This is a repost from a previous comment meme that was posted a bit late into the meme and not filled.

A powerful witch or another MoTW owes Sam a favor, and he uses it to bring back Dean after the crash before his dad can make the deal. The price? You decide. I'd prefer some sort handicap, such as blindness or loss of limb, Whatever it is, it's graphic, and Dean and John get to watch the gruesome payment happen.

Whatever pairing you want, go wild.


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